Efficient Operation of Modular Grid-Connected Battery Inverters for RES Integration

Grid-connected battery storage systems on megawatt-scale play an important role for the integration of renewable energies into electricity markets and grids. In reality, these systems consist of several batteries and inverters, which have a lower energy conversion efficiency in partial load operation. In renewable energy sources (RES) applications, however, battery systems are often operated at low power. The modularity of grid-connected battery storage systems thus allows improving system efficiency during operation. This contribution aims at quantifying the effect of segmenting the system into multiple battery-inverter subsystems on reducing operating losses. The analysis is based on a mixed-integer linear program that determines the system operation by minimizing operating losses. The analysis shows that systems with high modularity can meet a given schedule with lower losses. Increasing modularity from one to 32 subsystems can reduce operating losses by almost 40%. As the number of subsystems increases, the benefit of higher efficiency decreases. The resulting state of charge (SOC) pattern of the batteries is similar for the investigated systems, while the average SOC value is higher in highly modular systems.